Stepping into the office last Monday morning, I could feel the nervous energy bubbling around me. The Friends of Fishtown 5K was upon us, meaning the entire week was to be filled with preparation. My only experience with 5Ks are the ones I ran (walked) during my years participating with Girls on the Run in Leland, and I can’t say I ever gave a second thought to all the work that goes into planning such a large coordinated event. Preparing the designs and promotional materials, finding sponsors, gathering volunteers, coordinating road crossings, organizing packets, it seemed like a never ending to-do list. As a newcomer to the Fishtown Preservation Society who had never done this before, I was honestly pretty excited about it. We’ll see how excited I am when it comes to the morning of race day though, when I have to wake up at 5:00 AM to set things up… That’ll be a whole other battle.
Amid all the craziness that’s involved with the 5K, I was able to slip away for an hour to meet with someone local I’d been hearing great things about all summer. At the beginning of the season I knew I was interested in exploring the ecology of the Leland River from one end of Fishtown to the other. I was told the perfect person to talk to about this was Matt Heiman, Director of Natural Land Protection for the Leelanau Conservancy, who has worked for the organization since 2001 after coming out of grad school. Through the completion of multiple land protection projects, he’s gotten a lot of great experience in a variety of environmental fields, including water quality, wildlife habitats, and maintenance of scenic areas. As most of us who love Leelanau County know, these are things Leelanau is well known for, and it was wonderful to meet someone so involved in all of them.
From the moment we first met, it was clear that Matt’s the type of person who is guided by his passions. In his case, this means where the fish go, Matt goes. Growing up in Midland, he’s fished all his life, and he’s moved around a bit since then but his heart always brings him back home to the land of lakes. He moved to Oregon with his wife for a period of time, but missed the familiarity of fishing in Michigan. In the fall after his seasonal work was done, he would drive back and forth across the country to fish in Michigan, and this went on for two years until he eventually made his way back home to Michigan for graduate school. Though he grew up in Midland, his grandparents lived on Lake Leelanau until the late 1980s, so he got a taste of what life was like up north from a young age, including fishing in the county. This is an important part of his story, because often grandparents are the ones who have the most lasting impact on our lives. How we were raised, where we were raised, and who raised us guides how we want to live our lives in the future. I say this because my grandparents also had a house on Lake Leelanau, which is what my mind always circles back to when I think of my most treasured summer memories. My memories of taking a dip along the rocky lakeshore every time I visited and spending the Fourth of July with my family on the pontoon are why my emotions are so tightly bound around Leelanau County, and is why I can see myself living here again when I’m older. I’m sure Matt has special memories of his grandparents, too, and it’s these kinds of nostalgic and familial ties to the county that keep people coming back time and time again.
Growing up, I had the childlike attitude of feeling like I knew everything there was to know, and time and time again I’m proved wrong. In Fishtown alone there’s so much to learn, and Matt’s work with the Leelanau Conservancy and passion for fishing makes him an excellent person to talk to when it comes to the ecology of the Leland River. As one can imagine, many of the species living in the river are fish, and Matt not only has the knowledge about the fish but also the experience in catching them to answer all my questions. For as small as the river is, I was amazed at how much information there was to cover. At every spot we paused, there was something new to see, and it was clear that there was much more going on beneath the surface than what meets the eye. Starting at the Leland Dam, Matt explained that the river is split into two parts: below the dam, and above the dam. The part of the river above the dam that connects to Lake Leelanau has a marginal fish habitat, and therefore has much less diversity. From a fisherman’s perspective, it also means that there’s much less fish to catch above the dam because fish from Lake Michigan are prevented from making it past the dam and into Lake Leelanau.
Looking at it in this way, the dam acts as a biological barrier. Though its purpose is intended to keep unwanted species from entering Lake Leelanau (invasives and other larger fish), it also creates a problem for native species that have the biological urge to return to the smaller lake. Some of these native species include suckers, walleye, small mouth bass, and sturgeon. Other species that are known for putting on a show trying to make it to the other side of the dam are the
salmon. In natural environments like smaller waterfalls, salmon are able to make it to the top where they have a preference for spawning. This is still their natural instinct today, and what I once thought was an exciting sight to see now feels a bit sad to watch. Knowing that they put so much time and energy trying to make it over a dam that’s designed to make it impossible for not just them, but any new species to enter is disheartening. That being said, at the end of the day it prevents long term issues from arising. It’s better for the salmon to be restricted to a larger habitat like Lake Michigan because in the past when salmon have reached smaller lakes, they have made their way upstream into little creeks and end up digging around at the bottom. This type of disturbance changes the structure of these smaller streams and makes a mess of systems that are too small to handle the larger fish species.
Each section of the Leland River from top to bottom, serves a purpose in providing an ecological space for certain species to reside, and connects a tiny protected area to the vastness that is Lake Michigan. I think the Leland River is especially beautiful in this way. It’s such a small yet diverse space, observable from both sides, and makes for the perfect outdoor classroom. When we went down to the river to meet that day, I didn’t expect to see much. Anytime I’ve gone to the river on my own, I only ever see a few fish. This time though, with Matt’s keen eyes, he was able to spot multiple patches of areas that had minnows, small mouth bass and suckers—anything that was darting around down there he was able to pin point. It must be a fisherman thing, because I would’ve never guessed that there were that many fish on any given day floating around such a small river, not to mention I had a difficult time seeing them even as he pointed them out. People even began to gather near us, tagging along trying to hear what Matt was saying and wondering what we were doing. It was fun to watch people squint at the water the same way I was, trying to see the supposed fish Matt was pinpointing under boats, and in between weed beds.
Making our way to the harbor, we noticed that the clarity of the water was beginning to decrease. This cloudier visibility isn’t due to poor water quality, but actually because of higher phytoplankton concentrations. Along with the phytoplankton, much of the vegetation we saw was native with the exception of some pesky invasive Eurasian milfoil near the shallower shoreline areas of the harbor. The phytoplankton and native fauna were uplifting to see, and are signs of a healthy ecosystem. Matt pointed out a few spots near shore that were barren and silty compared to the surrounding rocky gravel, which apparently had been old bass nests that had either hatched in June, or were abandoned from previous years. Before hatching they would’ve been a great place to see the bass because nests are guarded by the parents from 
bottom feeders like invasive gobies. A common thing you’ll hear about gobies is that they’re nest robbers, which is why the parents guard the nests as well as they do. Even when the eggs hatch, the gobies still cause trouble for the baby bass because they compete for food. Even that day poking around the harbor and river, we spotted quite a few gobies, which as much as I hate to say were honestly one of the cuter invasives I’ve seen. They’re just these tiny little fish that dart around the bottom, dusting up bits of sand and pebbles as they go, and it’s hard to dislike a fish like that with its cute little round eyes. Though they are invasive, they act as a good source of food for Lake Trout so they’re not solely competitors in the ecological community.
I asked Matt what are some of the greatest threats and challenges that the river faces now and in the future. In the last 25 years that he’s been in the county, the most notable invasive species presence is the Eurasian milfoil. It’s been a big problem in Lake Leelanau (upstream of the dam) and is present in areas of Lake Michigan such as the harbor which we saw, but the numbers are not so alarming now. This is due to efforts by the Lake 
Leelanau Association and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Together, they developed a plan to keep the Eurasian milfoil at bay, and there are now funds that help to control the milfoil. The key word there is control, because as we see with many invasive species, it’s not possible to fully eradicate them. Controlling these species and bringing them down to a manageable level is the next best option to bring some balance back to the environments that they’ve disturbed. While the milfoil problem is slowing down, there are still other issues that the river will have to face in the next few years.
Invasive species aside, the growing issue and concern that Matt has for the river is the extreme weather patterns we’ve been experiencing in the area. Precipitation events have been more intense in the past two years than have been experienced historically, and this leads to increased runoff. Excessive runoff is something that the county is not used to, and also not prepared for. Our infrastructure isn’t built to handle the capacity of water that gets dumped after such strong storms. Not only is our infrastructure underdeveloped to handle it, but the runoff also carries excess nutrients and sand into the water, and it’s this input of nutrients that can cause harmful algal blooms in certain areas of lakes and ponds. Much of the Fishtown Preservation Society’s recent work is directly related to these weather conditions, and remediation efforts like dock replacements and lifting shanties up for new foundations are all to help combat shifting water levels and increased runoff during periods of high waterflow.
One of the factors that’s resulting in the influx of these weather events, is that northern Michigan is now sitting right in the middle of a tension zone. This tension zone has historically been located in southern Michigan, and it’s a boundary where humid heat from the South meets the cold and drier air from Canada. Temperature changes, higher turbidity, varying water levels, and riverbed disturbance result from being located at a tension zone, and put stress on the organisms living there. The unprecedented conditions that result from a tension zone put a great deal of stress on ecological communities, especially some of the smaller ones (like the Leland River) that don’t have the capability to adapt.
I appreciated having the chance to talk with Matt, because I think there’s value in speaking with someone who has lived here for so long and has experienced the county over a greater period of
time. The ultimate takeaway I had from this discussion was how unique the Leland River is in the sense that it acts very differently from a natural habitat or river system because of its purpose in the past. The river’s historical use as an industrial corridor in the 19th century for the booming lumber industry and the Leland Iron Works company meant that it was developed into a very channelized system. Ultimately, these industries are why we see the river as it is today. The dam gave people control of lake drainage, and in doing so it now acts as more of a lake habitat downstream of the dam due to its proximity to Lake Michigan.
This important river habitat changes with the seasons, and I remember when I first came home for the summer it was FILLED with silvery little alewives. Now that we’re into the hotter summer months, many of the fish, including the alewives, are done spawning, and the river feels a little quieter in the depth of summer. If you come back sometime between late August and early October, though, you’ll be surprised to see some bigger fish like the salmon that come back to spawn at the end of the season. Big fish and little fish alike, they all rely on the river. These fish coming from Lake Michigan are now dependent on the river to complete their life history, and in Matt’s words “we find that a very small area becomes very important.” With the river being this safe and protected area of a much larger lake region, it provides the ideal conditions where fish of all different species come to spawn. Over the summer I developed a deeper understanding of the river as a place for curious visitors, dockside anglers, charter boats, and as the outlet for Fishtown Preservation’s commercial fishing operations. With Matt Heiman’s help, I also have a newfound appreciation for the river as a haven that’s critical to the development and growth of Lake Michigan fish, where each section serves its own purpose for the countless species that take residence within. The river may be small, but size can’t take away from the influence that it has on our community.
Congrats to everyone who ran the 5K on Saturday, and stay tuned till next week!
Emma
More resources:
- Leland Blue and Leland Iron Works history: https://www.fishtownmi.org/2024/04/leland-blue-and-the-iron-works-history/
- Invasive species in the Great Lakes:
https://lakeleelanau.org/aquatic-invasive-species/
- Lumbering in the region: https://www.leelanauhistory.org/lumbering-on-lake-leelanau-ripples-through-time/
- Article on the goby and where the goby photo was retrieved from: https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2025/09/26/invasive-round-gobies-discovered-in-2025-in-lake-winnebago/86328585007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z116756p117450c117450e1186xxv116756&gca-ft=250&gca-ds=sophi